A Taste of Loneliness
by EmiEmi96
Summary: After throwing a tantrum at his father, Noctis finally had enough of being trapped within the kingdom. All he wanted to do was have a normal life. He never asked to be a Prince. Slight AU?
1. Plan

**So, apparently, I have an obsession with FFXV. I have played the other FF games in the past (7, 9, 10 and 13), but this one is by far my favourite. I got it on the steam sales like almost a week ago and I've been playing it non-stop ever since with over 16 hours a day. I've almost completed the game for the third time already. I may have a problem. The story is just… wow… amazing along with pretty much everything else ESPECIALLY the extra DLC episodes. For those who haven't seen the anime or the Kingsglaive movie, I highly recommend you watch both.**

 **Anyway, on with it.**

* * *

Stretching his arms wide open with a loud cracking sound, Noctis opened his pale blue eyes. He took a deep breath, exhaling shortly after. He shot up, remembering the tantrum last night and feeling the pounding aftermath in his head.

"Ow…" he groaned out as he clutched his head tightly.

* * *

"Hey, Dad…" A young Noctis ambled towards his father who sat asleep in his throne, his head lightly resting on his hand. _Poke, poke…_

King Regis mumbled slightly as his eyes fluttered open. "Huh?" He gave a confused grunt before eyeing the teenager in front of him. "What's the matter, my son?"

The fifteen-year-old glanced at his father's eyes before looking at the floor, shuffling his feet. He stood up confidently. _A King must be confident_ , he thought to himself. "I… Prompto got us some free tickets for a movie that I want to watch."

Regis observed his son's anxiety and shaky movements, pretending to not notice them as he listened in carefully.

"It's just outside the Citadel – but only on the edge, I promise we'll be fine."

"Absolutely not." At this point, Regis stood up almost fuming.

"Why? I never get to go outside!" Noctis was starting to feel irate. "Not even after school hours…"

"Do you not understand your position? You're not a normal boy, you're a Prince." He took an intimidating step towards the boy. "You're precious and the outside world is dangerous for someone of your position."

"I never asked for this, I _don't want_ to be the Prince."

"Listen, Noctis, it's not about what you want. It's about what our Kingdom needs. You were born into the Lucis bloodline and–"

"No! I don't care!" He cut his father's words in half, not willing to listen to reason.

"You're not listening to reason, when will you learn?" Regis' voice turned into a low growl. "It's late. Go to your room, you are not to come out until I send for you."

Noctis was already gone, stomping up the palace stairs shouting and screaming.

* * *

 _Right_ , he thought to himself, slightly embarrassed after the outbreak yesterday. Noctis peered out the enlarged window next to him, carelessly throwing the soft, velvet blanket on the floor.

Darkness. _It's still dark._ Checking his phone to confirm his suspicions, it was three in the morning. _I guess that explains why Ignis still hasn't come for me yet_.

There was no way he was going back to sleep. He was still in his casual black clothes from the previous day, not caring to switch clothes – nor needing to. The Prince found himself in his bathroom, combing his jet black, yet radiant hair into his ironically unkempt and spiky style.

He stopped for a moment, halting his breath as he heard the handle to his door turning. Noctis peered out of his bathroom, poking his head around the corner. The handle stopped. The lock clicked. _No way…_ He thought to himself.

"Hey!" Noct yelled, banging on his room door, only to hear footsteps darting off in the distance along with the sound of armour clinking off. "So that's how you want to play it, huh? Getting your guards to lock me in." He breathed out. "I'm not going to play your games any longer."

Out of sheer frustration, he slammed his fist hard _very hard_ on the door, leaving an incredible blow in the door to mark his first. "Unbelievable."

Noctis almost ran to the end of the room, back to the window, where he pushed the windows open. The cool night breeze drifted through the room and down the boy's spine, making him shiver. The sky was a blueish pink, a pretty odd colour to think about. The stars that dazzled in the sky were starting to fade away as Noct positioned himself on the sturdy, ebony balcony.

Fishing out his sword from his armiger, he materialised the empowered weapon and in a flash of vivid blue, Noctis warped from the balcony and across the city. It was exhausting, especially since he wasn't really trained and ready to be warping around several kilometres. Noctis stopped to take a break. He rolled over in relief as he sighed and panted for breath along the top of someone's flat, auburn roof.

He wasn't really sure where he was, but he knew where he wanted to go. Every time he left home, he was always escorted by either Ignis or Gladio – usually Ignis seen as though he was basically his designated driver (and advisor).

"Prompto…" he whispered out as he stood up shakily. He went to take a step, almost ready to warp before his leg gave out before him and sent him rapidly tumbling onto the balcony of the aforementioned house. Noctis rubbed his head once more while trying to soothe his insane headache.

 _I can't believe this is really happening,_ Noct thought to himself as he lie on the floor of the cream white balcony. He took a look at inside the house, the light was on and it looked like nobody was home. _An apartment?_ It looked familiar to him as though it held sentimental value… That was when he saw it. It stuck out like a sore thumb. A school bag was just carelessly tossed on the floor with a small nametag reading "Prompto".

Noctis pulled himself off the floor, trying the balcony door… yep it was open. Prompto was never careful about anything, he was always the 'happy go lucky' kind of friend. He always wanted to make people smile, even if it was at the cost of his own happiness. Noct could never really see through him, see through the pain Prompto put himself through each day just to make his friend laugh; just to make his friend smile.

He let himself in and took his shoes off. "Prompto?" He whispered out, hoping to not wake anyone else sharing the apartment complex. His shoes weren't here and his bed sheets were strewn all over the room. Noctis' heart started beating rapidly, was this normal for his friend? Does he usually go outside this late – or early – in the night?

At that moment, the handle turned slightly, and the lock clicked open along with the door. Noctis tensed up until a tall, skinny, blonde figure walked through the door, singing to himself. The blonde boy looked up, flew backwards into the door, slamming it and almost let out a deafening screech before noctis dashed over and clamped his hand over Prompto's mouth. It had looked as though Prompto had seen a ghost.

An awkward minute had passed and Prompto casually removed Noctis' hand from his face, exchanging gestures with Noctis to let him know he wasn't going to scream.

"Noct? What are you doing here?" The blonde questioned, placing his arms on the other's shoulders.

He didn't really know what to say. Why was he here? "I needed to get out… have some fun, I guess. Anyway," he mumbled his answer and took control of the conversation. "Where were you? I was worried when I came in and saw your door unlocked and you were gone…"

"Well…" Prompto looked flustered and rubbed the back of his head with his hand, pondering what to say next. "You remember in school how I was quite 'heavy' as you put it? Since that day I've been running every day just to impress you and well I like doing it early in the morning."

"But it's three-thirty in the morning." Noctis felt slightly guilty after that comment, how could he have forgotten that? How could he have been so ignorant to blatantly call his classmate fat?

"And I also couldn't sleep." Prompto sat down on his bed and gestured for Noct to sit next to him.

He followed in suit and gazed upon his freckled friend's face, he had large black bags under his eyes. "You don't look very awake at least," he spoke out sympathetically.

"Yeah, well, neither do you!" The two of them laughed. "Bad day?"

"You know it… I actually wanted to come find you. I've been warping around for the last thirty minutes, I'd warped at least 4 miles around the Citadel. I guess I was lucky, huh?" A silence passed through the empty night as Noct tried to think of something to say. "What about you?"

"Oh, nothing. Just a bad dream…" He started mumbling at the end of his sentence. "What was the rush?" Prompto seemed concerned as he wrapped his arm around the shoulders of his best friend.

"Dad troubles… he's trying to keep me locked away in the palace and I kinda freaked out… there's no way I can just go back now."

"Why not? I doubt anyone would be awake at this hour. I'm even surprised you're awake at this moment."

"I'm exhausted from warping and trust me, I don't even think Ignis sleeps… I left my phone over there so they couldn't track me."

Sparking something in his mind, Prompto checked his phone. Yep. Three missed calls from Ignis. "Don't call them back," Noctis said as he glared daggers towards Prompto's phone.

"I'm pretty amazed actually."

"What?"

"How quickly they reacted to you leaving."

"Well, yeah, I sort of punched my door." Noctis smiled lightly and laughed as he added, "really loudly."

"He's probably worried about you."

"Ignis? I doubt it. It's his job to keep an eye on me." He laid back on the bed, his head reaching the other end as he stared out of the still-open balcony door.

"If he didn't like you, don't you think he'd have said something to King Regis by now?" Prompto copied what Noct did and flopped over, but his time on his stomach compared to Noctis lying on his back.

"I'll go back. Tomorrow. After the movie." He held up the ticket he was given earlier that day with a sheepish smile.

"Fine by me, but won't they send guards over here before then?"

"Probably." Noctis looked down, feeling guiltier than ever. He hadn't even realised the stress this could put on Prompto – he didn't mean to drag him in to this. He just needed a friend… Both of them did.

Prompto stood up, dragging Noctis along with him and steered around all the junk in his room for their shoes. "We better get going then!"

"Wait… you shouldn't come. I don't want you to get hurt or worse-"

"Too late," Prompto laughed at him, giving his signature smile. "Let's get moving."


	2. Gone

_Click_. The lock to the Prince's door had unlocked, the handle slowly turned shortly after. "Your Highn- Oh no, not again…" The sound of Ignis' voice came through the door as his form poked through.

He entered the room and frantically searched every possible area for his Prince. "Noct?" Ignis called out, checking under the bed again before neatly folding his blankets and placing them on top of the bed. Ignis shook his head. He was worried, what if he had left the Citadel? What if he was mugged or beaten up, left alone to die?

He fumbled with his pockets and pulled out his phone, running a distressed hand through his light brown locks of hair. He searched for Noctis – right at the top in the 'favourites' category and was about to dial his number until a shiny black object caught the corner of his eye. Noct had left his phone on his desk, _smart_ , Ignis thought sarcastically, letting out another sigh. _I must warn King Regis of the Prince's disappearance_. _Please just be okay._

He was well aware of the little 'scuffle' Noctis and his father had last night, and that sinking feeling he had right before he entered the Prince's room worsened the feeling. He knew something wasn't right.

* * *

Two boys carefully made their way through a darkened alley a short while away from Prompto's apartment. The sky above them had turned into a light blue with clouds covering the moon's silver sparkle.

"They know we'll be headed outside the Citadel tonight, so we need to get out now before it's blocked off."

"Yeah… good idea but how are we going to get past the border?" Prompto questioned.

"What do you mean?" Noctis had rarely ever been outside the Citadel, only once before when he was really young due to a tragic incident.

"Cameras… border control…" he spoke plainly.

Noct thought for a second. "Right, yeah." He shook his head.

"You know… if you wanna do it another time, I'm down for it."

"There's no going back now, Prompto."

"Well we could always sneak out in the back of a van, you know like they do in the movies?"

"Huh, I suppose you're right." Noct had his arms crossed, he was starting to feel slightly fatigued and oddly cold. He curled in on himself slightly. "Well let's get going then, or I'm going to freeze to death."

Prompto exchanged a perplexed look with Noct, it wasn't anywhere near cold outside. He even had his long black jacket on him with his tall black boots.

As they ventured across the town, Noctis' steps became more and more sluggish. It was almost at the point where Prompto practically had to drag the Prince to their destination. They hid between the lights, journeying through the alleyways and dark spots whenever possible to avoid being spotted. They had indeed come across some shady characters, some of which he had been told to stay away from countless times by both Ignis and Prompto, but as they reached the colossal wall, their venture came to an end.

Both teens stared up at the looming structure, amazed as Prompto spoke out and gestured to a group of vehicles, "that one there – we'll get in that truck while they're loading it up if we time it right…once they turn and-"

"Go!" Noctis yelled as he dragged his feet across the ground, the blonde also being dragged along with him as they both took a dive – almost landing soundlessly.

"What was that noise?" A random voice asked inquisitively whilst glancing in the back of a truck. Hiding away behind boxes in small crevasses of the load, they held their breath. Their heartbeats raced – this was it. Their dazzling blue eyes sparkled with a newfound hope as adrenaline coursed through their veins.

"Must have been the wind or something," a different voice sounded a moment before the metallic doors closed with a loud clang.

They both sat down, relieving themselves of breath they unknowingly held after that intense moment. "So," Prompto started the conversation in a low whisper. "We're really gonna do it! Does this make us fugitives now?"

Noct let out a small laugh. "Nah, just rebels. What's the worst they'll do to a couple of teenage runaways?"

"Well, duh, prison time!" Prompto's tone held thick sarcasm as both teens laughed awkwardly.

"Well staying at home itself was prison enough." Noct raised his arms behind his head against the back wall of the truck and rested on them as though they were pillows. "Let me know when we get there," he yawned out, his eyes closing slightly as he dozed off.

"Sleep tight," Prompto mumbled as he looked away. It will be at least an hour or two before they could depart from the truck and considering Noct could sleep through a tsunami, it's going to be a boring time spent alone.

Prompto watched his black-haired friend sleep peacefully, his chest slowly rising, then falling. But what concerned him the most was the large black circles underneath Noctis' eyes. He looked like he hadn't slept in a year. A pained expression suddenly crept its way on Noct's face which was then succeeded by the boy squirming uncomfortably. Prompto went to put a comforting arm on the boy's shoulders but was stopped when Noct further curled in on himself.

"Noct…?" Prompto called out as he sat next to his friend, allowing him to rest his head on his shoulder. He gently shook him, waking up the Prince. "Everything okay?"

"Wh-", * _cough*,_ "what?" He tried sitting up, but his limbs were still fatigued. It took a moment for Noctis to process the question. "Oh yeah… I'm fine. Just sleepy."

The younger paused for a second as he tried to collect his thoughts. "Right, sure," he mumbled, not believing him. "You've just been kinda stressed lately, and… well, you don't look too good," Prompto listened to Noct's breathing. "And if there's anything you wanna say, you know you can talk to me…" but his words fell on deaf ears as Noct was once again sound asleep.

Prompto looked down at Noctis, feeling the weight on his shoulder again. His deep onyx locks fell in front of his face, _at least he doesn't look like he's in pain any more_ , Prompto thought to himself, slightly more cheerful and less concerned compared to earlier.

* * *

"Hey, Noct," Prompto started shaking him, slightly getting more and more forceful with each shake. "We'll be there soon, get ready to jump." He continued nudging him, earning a disgruntled groan from the other teenager. Prompto shook his head and opened the back door of the truck as it started to slow down, watching the majority of the boxes fall out… _Sorry,_ he apologised internally.

Placing Noct's arms around his shoulder and putting his arm around his waist. "1,2… and jump!"

Noctis' eyes flew wide open upon hearing Prompto's commands. "What?" He yelled at the last second as he realised he was being flung out of the truck. Unable to fight back, both teenagers were launched from the truck like cargo, rolling along the ground as the truck started speeding off once more.

Noct stayed on the floor, eyeing his friend as he picked himself up, dusting him off and turning to face the Prince on the ground. "Easy peasy!" Prompto spoke out victoriously, giving his distraught friend his signature smile along with a thumbs up.

Noctis pulled himself off the ground using a lot more force than what was usually necessary, Prompto rushed to his friend's side to aid him. "Don't do that again." he glared daggers, earning a laugh. "Or at least warn me next time…"

"Dude, I totally did!"

"Whatever let's just get moving, let's set up camp over there." Noct gestured to a small cave hidden between multiple layers of vegetation. "They probably won't find us."

"Sounds great – except for the part that it's not a hotel room," Prompto deadpanned.

"Sounds like you want them to find us."

They started for the miniature haven, trying not to move the plants and vegetation too much in order to keep maximum cover of the entrance. "So, Noct," Prompto started. "What's next?"

They settled down into the cave, Noct gave him a look which questioned his interrogative. "I… I won't be going back." His vision started to dim a little bit as he start coughing. Feeling colder than earlier, Noct brought his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them. "I feel like I made a mistake."

"Huh, why?"

"All of this, just so we can spend some time together. Ugh, Dad's gonna kill me when they find out." Noctis coughed, wheezing slightly. "I shouldn't have brought you out here. I made my problems your problems. I should have done this alone. We probably can't even go anywhere, they'll have everywhere guarded and on lockdown."

"Hey, Noct, I'm actually really glad you did come to me. I really do like spending time with you, even if things didn't work out." The Prince gave him an odd look of confusion. "Ever since we were kids I've always been watching from a distance. I always wanted to be useful – to be a good friend to you. I always wanted you to like me…" Prompto trailed off, pulling his legs to his chest in a similar way to Noct.

"…Oh, well I-" Coughing violently, Noctis was cut off. Flinging himself into action, Prompto firmly patted his back in comfort.

"I should take you home… we have little supplies and you really don't look too hot right now." Prompto pressed his hand against Noct, the older boy pressing his head against the cool object. "Although you do feel it," he joked.

"I'm just tired." Noctis blatantly lied, his eyes searching for an answer on the ground. "I'll be fine."

"I should take you home, everyone will be worried about you and..." Prompto's joking tone had taken a U-turn. His expression was full of concern as his pale blue eyes were wide with fear. "And you could be really sick… something bad could happen."

"No," Noct's voice had turned into a threatening growl before correcting himself, "Sorry… but no." He feigned a smile towards his blonde friend and placed a weak, reassuring hand on his shoulder. "I'll take a nap, do me a favour and start a fire. It's freezing..."

Prompto nodded his head in compliance as he walked further up in the small and secluded cave. He banged a couple of rocks together, trying to light the fire. No luck. His lips twisted in frustration as he threw them and just took out a lighter and set small scraps of wood alight.

"It's gonna be a long day," Prompto whispered to him as he stared at the sleeping form behind him, then at the sun that drifted wearily over the horizon.

He played with his phone in his pocket, turning it on by accident, feeling the vibration, _oh sh-_ , 26 missed calls from Ignis along with 4 unread messages:

 _"Prompto?"_

 _"It's Ignis"_ – _no duh_ , Prompto facepalmed. _"Please answer your phone."_

 _"We know you left the Citadel, I'm very worried about Prince Noctis. Please tell me that he is at least well and safe."_

 _"There have been sightings of Imperial forces outside, please return immediately."_

Another message popped up on his phone. _"We're tracing your location, please stay right there. There are Imperial air ships all around your area. If you move, you and the Prince will not make it… Please, Prompto, think of Noctis' wellbeing."_

"What are you doing?" Noctis' hoarse voice called out behind him as he saw a small glow in Prompto's hands.

The blonde's eyes kept switching back and forth between his phone and his friend. He wasn't sure whether or not to tell him the truth, the Prince's eyes were lulling slightly, despite his desperate attempts to keep them open. "They're coming for us." Prompto had to admit it. He couldn't lie to him. "It's either them or the Empire."

"We're leaving. Now." Noctis scrambled up, clinging to the sides of the cave for support. "Are you coming or not?!" He started to yell as he took off, his feet harshly bounding against the floor. "Actually, no, just stay. Let them take you home, I'm going alone."

Prompto darted out of the cave, reaching for his friend's pale bare, arm, "I'm coming with you-", his arm missed as Noctis phased through. He tried spitting out his words as fast as he could, but to no avail. Noct had already disappeared in a flash of blue as he warped away and out of sight.

His heartbeat rapidly increased, almost beating out of his chest as he whipped his phone back out of his pocket. His fingers shook relentless as he dialled Ignis' number which was instantly picked up.

"IGNIS-" Prompto's mind started going wild. "He's gone, he just vanished… He must have warped out of sight, he's really sick and there are Imperials around and-"

"Calm down," Ignis' voice came down the other line. Despite not sounding it, he was just as worried for the Prince. "If he truly was sick, he would be exhausted very quickly. Stay right where you are and _do not move_. He couldn't have gotten far. We're almost there."


	3. Resolve

**Hello everyone, as a writer I'd love to ask you guys for your feedback on the story such your opinion of the direction the plot is going in, etc. Feel free to leave a review and don't worry about being critical, nice or even adding in a bit of flame. Everyone's views are accepted. :)**

* * *

Noct came to a stop, clutching his side in agony as he dropped to the ground. He leaned back against a hard, large rock for support. He hadn't known how far or how long he'd been travelling for through warping, all he knew was that his head pounded, and his vision swam – blurring and dotting as he closed his eyes.

He breathed out deeply and slumped further down. His hands were numb as he felt the long grass brush against his palms. He opened his eyes, allowing the blue crystals to scan the area, all the while his vision slowly darkening and dotting violently. Noctis tried to fight back the darkness, his head lulling ever so slightly before snapping back up.

The Prince couldn't really make out where he was, despite the flashes of green everywhere he glanced.

Sounds echoed in the distance – several of them. The closest sounded like metal clanking on the ground as silvery ghost-like shadows emerged on Noct, whereas he heard faint yells reverberating further away.

Noct's eyes slowly closed, unable to fight his current daze. A little nap won't hurt, right?

* * *

" _NOCT!_ " Ignis and Prompto howled in unison as they darted towards a Magitek Engine.

"They must have tracked him," Ignis commented as they watched swarms of armed MTs jump from the looming ship.

"It's him!" Gladio pointed to a small, hunched over form resting against a rock. They broke off into a sprint, dashing along the tall grass as they noticed the MTs advancing on Noctis' position. "Ignis, Prompto!" Gladio yelled as he motioned towards the enemy.

He waved his greatsword and heaved it in the direction of the MTs, the ground swirling upwards as an immense wave wiped turned up the ground, sending both Noct and the troopers flying off and landing with a loud crash.

Noct doubled over from the pain as Prompto rushed to his side, darting through the recovering MTs, only to be smacked out of the way sending a sharp shock of pain resonating through his skull. Prompto glanced upwards. He tried to push himself up as he saw a shadow loom over him. The blonde's head was forced back into the dirt by a heavy weight on his neck, choking him and making his gasp for air.

Prompto's hands trembled as he scrambled for his gun that lie lifelessly on the floor next to him. His hand climbed along the ground, his voice rasping while grunting in desperation. Prompto clutched the gun, but as soon as he felt his grip tighten, the weight crushing his neck loosened as a slim, lanky figure knocked the threat off him.

"Thanks, Ignis," Prompto coughed.

Ignis nodded, pulling out his flame-coated daggers from the MT with a crackle as the daggers snapped from fire to ice several times, causing a purple-blue hole to form and expand and snap, finishing off the MT as it howled in pain.

"Regroup and retreat!" A voice bellowed behind them. All heads snapped to the direction revealing a tall woman clad in black and silver armour. A tint of red shaped her form, defining her sharp shoulders and crushing heels while she loosely held a long lance which dangled off the edge of the ship she resided on.

Distracted by the sudden appearance, Ignis was met with a harsh fist across the back of his head, blacking out his vision for a second. As he opened his eyes, hearing engines roaring, he struggled to stand.

Ignis' eyes widened as he saw a limp, black form in one of the MT's grasp as he hung neglectfully with his arms draped over, hovering above the ground.

" _NOCT!_ " Gladio barked out. " _WAKE UP!_ " No response from the teen. Prompto fired out shots in rage before hearing a series of clicks from the gun and maniacal laughter from the ship and throwing his royal guard-issued gun and stomping off.

"This is all my fault…" Prompto cried out silently to himself. "They took him… it's all my fault…" He continued to mutter to himself, but stopped abruptly as he felt a comforting hand on his shoulder.

The hand belonged to the tall, tanned brute as he sighed out loud. "We'll get him back, you're going home though."

Prompto threw himself off the ground, "No, no way. Not happening," he exclaimed, waving his hands profusely. "He's my best friend and I'm the reason why he's in this stupid mess in the first place!"

"Listen, punk, you nearly died! If Iggy hadn't saved your ass you would be dead by now!"

"I… I don't- I'm staying, and if you won't take me then I'll go myself!"

"Neither of you even know where we're going," Ignis interjected, splitting up the argument. "Both of you, get to the car. We're going home and reporting directly to King Regis."

"No-" Prompto tried to protest.

"We've sustained injuries, Prompto. If you want to venture off alone, then so be it. I will not allow myself nor Gladio to go recklessly search for the Prince and kill ourselves in the process."

Ignis stopped for a moment, eyeing the two before he once again broke the silence.

"I promise, we will get Noct back."


	4. Blood

**Well I'm off for a week, I won't be doing any writing but I should have another chapter up a day or 2 after I come back. This story could end 2 ways. One that ends within the next few chapters or one that could potentially near 15-20 chapters. I'll decide on what I go for at some point. I'm not very organised.**

* * *

A thrashing pain felt as though it was splitting his head open. The prince attempted to raise an arm to his head to comfort it, but was taken aback by his unmoving limb. His breaths quickly turned sharp due to an incredible pain that accompanied his ribs. Everything was coming back to him slowly. The darkness that inhabited the edges of his eyes shrank back allowing everything to become clear once again. Well, almost clear. His splitting headache never ceased which caused ripples of purple and blue to flash in his vision every few seconds.

Noct opened his dry lips to speak but he coughed and spluttered harshly instead. Words could not form in his mind, nor his mouth. His illness never ceased – actually it had gotten much worse.

Surveying his area, Noctis noticed he was in a dark room with his hands hanging loosely in the air and strapped to a metal pole with a thick, cold, metallic collar around his neck. He couldn't see very easily, but it had a significantly ardent red glow in the centre just below his chin.

The child of royalty mumbled something incohesive as he tugged on binds, thrashing, starting to panic as he knew he was trapped. He didn't know where he was, or where Prompto was. His eyes flew open as he thought of Prompto, _Oh no, did he get taken too?!_ His heartbeat smashed against his chest, pulling and scratching his wrists, burning them the rope. A drop of blood started to make its way down his arm.

"Well well, looks like he's awake," a feminine voice called out as a blinding light suddenly appeared at the end of the room. Two shadows emerged from the door, one walking with a confident strut as the other one lagged behind in a hunched over form.

"W-Who…" Noct's voice rasped. It felt like as if he'd swallowed an entire cup of needles. She laughed at his pathetic attempt to muster up words.

"Looks like the drugs still in full swing, Elliot, fetch me some water." She came closer to the boy who sat in a forced position, limply on the ground. "It's time to get this started."

"Yes, miss Aranea," a feeble voice called out behind her. The smaller, hunched over form scrambled away only to come back a few moments later with a small glass of water.

Upon hearing this, Noct looked up, anxiously waiting for the pitter patter of the small footsteps to come to a stop. He eyed the glass desperately, trying to reach out towards it with his bound arms. It frustrated him to be caught like this. Despite all the training sessions he had with Gladio about what to do in a kidnapping, he really had no idea what to do and the sinking feeling in his chest really didn't help him either. _Am I really going to die here…_ He shook his head, trying to brush away the awful thoughts. _Ignis… Gladio… dad… they'll come for me, right?_

"Awww… you're worried right? Worried that you'll never see your little pathetic friends again, right?" The woman laughed hysterically at the panicking form as she delivered a swift kick to his ribs, sending a painful, piercing spike of pain through his body. It emanated down his spine and along his limbs, making Noctis quiver uncontrollably. "Well guess what!" The lady, dubbed Aranea by the small boy, picked up Noct by his jet-black hair locks and levelled her face with his.

She glared into his eyes for a moment, relishing in his poor state. Her tone darkened. "They're not coming!"

Noct narrowed his eyes, he was feeling hopeless, but he wasn't ready to give up yet. With fight still in him, he quickly swung his head backwards then with full force he smashed his forehead against his captor, earning a howl of agony. "You little brat!" She screeched and brought up her toned, muscular legs, raising it upwards almost vertically as she smacked it down on his head, forcing him down into the ground. Loud cracks and cries were heard as blood trickled down Noct's hair before feeling an agonisingly cold rush of water pour down, beating his head. His eyes pulsated, startled as he felt the cool liquid dribble down his cheeks.

Aranea laughed. The tall woman flashed a malevolent smile as she watched Noct visibly shake and quiver. Smirking, she quickly lashed out, forcing a strangled scream as she smashed the glass against his head, "you…you…b-". She hit him again, cutting him off before he could muster up the energy to fight back. He couldn't collect his thoughts. He couldn't gather his words. She hit him again, and again… and again– _CRACK._ A pained howl sounded from the black-haired boy as red droplets trickled down his face, mixing in with the clear water as they danced across his cheek before finally spluttering on the ground. A sharp pain burned his cheeks, the back and side of his head as it the warm sensation tingled. Small jagged pieces of glass, like crystals, dropped and shattered next to him, while some remained stuck in his pale skin.

Noct coughed hard, his throat feeling like sandpaper and he tugged weakly on the chains to assess the damage but gave up when the clanging sound of chains restrained his thin arms. His whole body burned severely. A white light flashed through his eyes and a splitting headache seared through his skull.

"Please," Noct started begging. "What… what d-do you want from me?" He choked out his words harshly as blood started to slip out through his lips.

"Look at you, not even 5 minutes in and you're already begging. Oh what to do what to do," Aranea chimed as she giggled uncontrollably to herself. "I could sell you off, hand you in to the Empire, or hold you for ransom."

"They won't… give in to you."

"Good thing I've got other options then." Aranea turned her back to the bloodied boy, but he remained in the corner of her eye. "Whatever happens I'll be rich and, hey, selling off the Prince as a 'slave' might pay a lot more than a promotion."

Cringing at the emphasis on 'slave' made Noct try to crawl backwards as though it were a knee-jerk reaction. His eyes widened as his breaths became more and more quick and panicked. _No way… this can't be happening. It's gotta be a joke, right?_ His mind raced, unable to register the maniacal laughter emitting from the brawny woman.


End file.
